2 days ago
PETA gives Nintendo free advertising by complaining about the cows in Mario Kart
The cows have been the breakout stars of Mario Kart World since it first appeared, but an animal rights group is upset at how they're depicted.
Someone at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal) is clearly a Nintendo fan, but we suspect Nintendo would really rather they weren't. The controversial animal rights group has highlighted Nintendo's depiction of animals before, most recently by insisting that you shouldn't fill the museum in Animal Crossing with insects and fish.
The group has often highlighted popular media to try and make its points, such as complaining that horror movie remake Nosferatu defames rats and, a little more reasonably, protesting the depiction of whaling in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (which is rumoured to be getting a remake soon).
Now, the group has turned its attention to Mario Kart World, where the inclusion of a cow as a playable character has been met with great enthusiasm by fans. However, PETA is upset because it seems to be sporting a nose ring.
'Nose rings are used by the meat and dairy industries to exploit, control, and even drag animals to their deaths. These brass rings are crudely stabbed through the sensitive septum of cows and bulls, which can cause lasting pain and discomfort,' wrote PETA in an open letter to Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa.
'The brass ring in Cow's nose glosses over real world violence and cruelty to animals. That's why we're asking you to give this beloved bovine a small but meaningful upgrade: remove the nose ring and let Cow race freely – without any painful reminders of the industries that treat animals like profit-making machines.'
PETA's tweet on the matter claims it's not a style choice, but that's not necessarily true. Since she knows how to operate a kart, Cow is presumably sapient, so it may simply be a cosmetic nose ring.
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Liberate Cow — PETA (@peta) August 14, 2025
As well as the usual Mushroom Kingdom crew, Mario Kart World on the Nintendo Switch 2 includes a number of generic enemies and side-characters, from a Goomba and Wiggler to a Snowman and Dolphin. More Trending
These are unlocked essentially at random, by using the Kameck power-up during a race. It's not too hard to get them all but Cow has been one of the favourites right from the start, in part because she's so unexpected but also because she's cute and a homage to fan favourite course Moo Moo Meadows.
There has been long-running speculation that more characters will be added to the game over time, but despite fans getting very suspicious at the fact that Donkey Kong and Pauline only have two costumes – whereas other much more minor characters have more – Nintendo has never confirmed anything.
Given Donkey Kong Bananza has been out for a while now it's not clear when or where they might make an annoucement. So for now Cow's position as fan favourite is undisputed.
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